Junior doctors in massive vote for strike action
Scotland’s junior doctors have unprecedentedly voted for strike action in a dispute over pay. 97% of BMA Scotland members voted to strike on a 71% turnout. No dates for strike have been set as yet by the union and talks are continuing. We spoke to a Socialist Party Scotland member who works as a doctor in the NHS about why junior doctors are ready to take action on pay.
“The BMA has the stance that “Below inflation pay awards from 2008/09 to 2021/22 have delivered a pay cut of 23.5% for foundation year doctors, and 23.9% for specialist registrar (StR) junior doctors”, therefore, the pay increase we are asking for is merely an equivalent to the salary of a Junior Doctor working in 2008, therefore it is not seen as a pay rise but rather a pay restoration.”
“Pay is significantly worse than those that would be at an equivalent level in other countries comparable to the UK. This would include Canada and the United States but especially Australia and New Zealand. I specifically have heard of many doctors considering leaving to live in Australia and New Zealand due to superior pay and superior working conditions.
“In the past 10 to 15 years services have become increasingly under stress. This goes across many different services from surgery to emergency care to primary care. As a result of this, medical staff moral and burnout rates are suffering as seen in the annual GMC National Training Surveys. The general feeling is that every year feels like the workforce within the NHS is working harder than ever, with fewer resources and staff yet receiving real-term pay cuts.
“Pay does not reflect the valuable service staff provide and contracted hours often don’t truly reflect the extra hours that we put in by staying late and working on non-clinical portfolio activities (that are essentially compulsory) that they don’t have time within working hours.
“Working as a locum doctor or as an agency nurse (often working through an agency so subcontracted to the NHS) has become much more common to fill rota gaps. Locum workers and “agency staff” frequently earn 2-3 times more in hourly pay than a doctor in training or an NHS employed nurse. The poor pay for these staff then forces more to work with agencies as they see it as much more financially viable.”
“For all these reasons junior doctors have had enough, and that is reflected in the size of the strike vote.”
